The Roundabout Way

January 6, 2008

Dear Friends,

These days, when someone new to Sedona asks me how to get to Cathedral Rock or Bell Rock (two of our most popular red rock formations), I often jokingly reply, “The best way to get there is in a very roundabout manner.”

So where’s “the joke” in that, you ask? Well, you see, here in Sedona we are in the middle of a huge road improvement project. As part of that project, all of the major intersections between Sedona and The Village of Oak Creek are being turned into “roundabouts”—traffic circles similar to the ones that are common in Europe.

These circular intersections enable drivers who want to turn left, or who just want to cross the road, to do so without having to wait for a green light, or wait on a long line of oncoming traffic to pass. Instead, everyone who enters the intersection simply veers to the right, and then moves around the circle in a counter-clockwise direction until they reach the road they want to be on.

When everyone is paying attention, everyone gets where they are going in a seamlessly flowing fashion . . . even though it is a “roundabout way” of doing it.

The point I am getting to is this (and you probably saw this coming): When you live life in the divine flow, the best way to reach your destinations in life—the safest way, and the way with fewer obstacles—is often a “roundabout way.”

Your desired destination may be to the “left,” so to speak, but the flow may guide you temporarily to the “right,” preventing you from running into something undesirable, or helping you avoid a block that you are not aware of.

I’ll never forget the day a youth group attended one of my talks, and one young lady proclaimed, “I get it! Our church is only a few hundred feet from the highway, and it is tempting to just want to head straight for it when you see it. But if you did that, your car would wind up nose-down in a drainage ditch! The best way to get to our church is to pass it by, take the next exit, cross over the bridge, and then come back down the access road. It’s the long way, but it’s the most beneficial way!”

And so it is in life. Your job is just to decide where it is you want to go. It is the job of the divine flow to figure out the best way to get there—which is always a way that is not only beneficial for you, but is beneficial for all involved, as well.

Here’s to living life in the divine flow, and remembering that the “roundabouts” you frequently encounter in life are there for your highest good, and for the highest good of everyone. May you be present enough to recognize these divine detours when you encounter them. And may you be patient enough and positive enough to happily move in any direction you are divinely guided to move in.

Steven

© 2008 by Steven Lane Taylor